motorcycling951 Posted July 18, 2016 Report Share Posted July 18, 2016 Hi guys I know alot of you are into building your own firearms from parts kits and such, I need some assistance with this. Okay how and where can I locate instructions for how to assemble and or construct firearms including welding and brazing frames and the like. I just recently decided to start doing this as a new hobby, but I can't find too many sources of information for how to do this. I've tried amazon and a couple others but THE PROBLEM WITH THAT IS THAT I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE PARTICULAR TITLES ARE, SO CAN'T SEARCH FOR EXACT TITLES SINCE I DON'T KNOW THE NAMES TO ASK FOR. One thing I forgot to mention, I'm searching for titles and sources for straight up building firearms. I'm not looking for just information about illegal conversion of semi-auto guns into machineguns, I want to stay on the right side of the laws here. Okay? So can you people help me out in some way? At the moment the projects I'm about ready to begin are for building a Glock pistol, a Leinad derringer, and a semi-auto sten, and eventually a couple of AK and AR projects down the road. But can't start on any of these until I receive some type of instructions for doing so. I know I should probably know these sources already, I used to be an FFL/SOT once upon a time. But that was then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike todd Posted July 18, 2016 Report Share Posted July 18, 2016 BOOKS, containing what you are looking for may not exist I'm afraid. the incentive to produce them is just not out there, along with the legal problems of misuse .like others on this board, I have done what you seek and was forced to stumble along making many mistakes as a result. I certainly received more help from others rather than finding my own way. in the parts kit hey days of the 80's and 90's some fantastic web sites existed so that folks in your position could share developments and builds. weaponeer .com comes to mind I believe?? as the kits disappeared, so did the boards I'm afraid, but some may still be out there. also in order to move more product, many vendors offered free info on how to proceed with their products and may still do so. many excellent manufacturers like "halo" sprang up and developed ways to apply new products to the varied parts kits at the time. treasury in their infinite wisdom chose to hold them responsible for the misuse of said products, forcing them to change or quit completely. Greed as always, also reared its ugly head as the first thought is many times " how can I benefit from this" . Of course many trash pamphlets popped up offering ways to use their own products in a certain way, but most were exactly that , TRASH and worthless. Your location is going to be an additional obstacle, as like myself lack of legal knowledge forces many vendors to include, " no sales to CA " in terms of sale. DONT GIVE UP! I hope things turn around for you ! cheers mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motorcycling951 Posted July 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2016 (edited) Yea mike this sounds true and probably is true to a certain degree. However, it is still perfectly LEGAL even in California to make your own firearms so long as you comply with federal law and state law which isn't really as restrictive as you think it would be. Most of Californias gun laws are mostly written to include commercially manufacturered firearms, leaving alot of exceptions to homemade guns. And even with those restrictions they are mostly aimed twards semi-auto rifles and pistols. IE- barrel length. Overall length, magazine capacity etc. By and large home builders may produce thier own guns without containing the evil features and such then still remaining legitimate. Oh one last thing that does specially pertain to homemade guns in California. This state does have a law against ZIP GUNS. Thissometimes does come into conflict with home builders. I'm order to make your own guns and NOT get into trouble regarding building illegal zip guns the way to stay clear is that if your gun looks like a regular conventional gun then it shouldn't be accused of being a zip gun. Now if you build something that looks like something James Bond would use then you're coming very close to the legal border. Edited July 18, 2016 by motorcycling951 added in the zip gun stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motorcycling951 Posted July 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 Well anybody else able to provide some assistance with this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Born loser...in Montana Posted July 19, 2016 Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 Motorcycling951, I have never been a FFL/ SOT once upon a time... but in my humble opinion seek out Gunsmiths/ SOT's with this current experience...call them and explain your situation/ project many will be willing to help in some way if not directly then lead you on the right path... many of the old timers are reluctant to give out information...but the best policy is always in person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motorcycling951 Posted July 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 Montana, I was kinda hoping maybe people like the ones you've suggested would possibly frequent this Web site and hopefully see this post and respond. That hasn't happened yet though. But everybody who has built a firearm had to have learned how from somewhere and somebody. There's got to be sources available on the net for books, building plans, PDF files, he'll SOMETHING! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron_brock Posted July 19, 2016 Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 Shot gun news used to run quite a few home builder series. They also published a compilation issue of gunsmithing projects. I don't have the title handy. American gunsmithing institute also had some stuff (how to build AK comes to mind). hopefully these leads give you a start Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motorcycling951 Posted July 19, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 Thanks Ron I'll look into that source and see what turns up. Anybody else got any other ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Born loser...in Montana Posted July 19, 2016 Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 Motorcycling 951, Might check out SAR SmallArms Review Web site they have lots of information archived, Also lookup Armorer's Manuals could be a starting point.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motorcycling951 Posted July 20, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2016 The American gunsmithing institute charges SEVERAL thousand dollars for each course they offer. I can't justify spending that kind of money on this. I mean after all I'm just wanting to build these things as a new hobby. I'm not trying to make a living at it. I'm not planning on selling anything that I make. So can't justify spending the money on courses like that. Several thousand dollars buys alot of other things like for example parts kits or other tools whatnot. Anyone reading this come up with any ideas yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike todd Posted July 23, 2016 Report Share Posted July 23, 2016 cant believe I forgot it but the handgun lead might have been why. that shotgun news compilation would be a great start for any assault rifle builds you might want to do. mr Mathews did a bunch a detailed builds and would be easy to follow. neck I think its even available to purchase in PDF on the webb site.i don't recall any handguns but he did a few pistol versions of machine guns. check it out mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motorcycling951 Posted July 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2016 Mike what's the website addresses for those PDF files or whatever other format that they might come in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron_brock Posted July 26, 2016 Report Share Posted July 26, 2016 AGIs how to build an AKS from a parts kit is $59.95. CETME and FN-FAL are $39.95 each. The thousands of dollars kits are only if you want to be a gunsmith. Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motorcycling951 Posted July 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 Aren't there any sources that can provide instructions or manuals for free? Like a site where I could download PDF files for building certain types of thingies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motorcycling951 Posted August 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2016 Apparently nobody here knows of any free download sources. Oh well life is just what life is I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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